<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Only Time Can Tell by dontrollthedice</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29451423">Only Time Can Tell</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontrollthedice/pseuds/dontrollthedice'>dontrollthedice</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Video Blogging RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Office, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, ft sapnap as tired best friend</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:54:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,334</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29451423</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontrollthedice/pseuds/dontrollthedice</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dream was eight years old when he learned about magic in the world’s inner workings.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>347</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>mcyt writers valentine's day blind date event!</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Only Time Can Tell</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/okanus/gifts">okanus</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hi this fic ran away from me a bit<br/>this is part of the mcyt valentines day exchange (the collection this work is under)! i was given the choice of three aus and decided to merge soulmates and magic into one, with the office au added in to tie everything together. it was also requested to add a first kiss, soooo :3c<br/>the recipient of mine is the lovely organizer of this event, hari! thanks for pulling the whole thing together, you lil funky person you. hope you like this!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dream was eight years old when he learned about magic in the world’s inner workings.</p><p>“Mom,” Dream called, happily sipping at a cup of hot chocolate, “how come your hot chocolate’s always the best?”</p><p>His mother’s eyes crinkled as her lips pulled up into a grin.</p><p>It was the morning of his first day of winter break as a second grader. The temperatures hadn’t quite reached enough coolness to invite snow, but Dream didn’t mind. Why go outside when his mom had put on his favorite Spiderman movie? He was wrapped up in his favorite blanket with his favorite drink in his favorite mug, all next to his favorite person in the world. It was cozy in the house, just the way he liked it.</p><p>Now, the movie had reached one of the lulls Dream didn’t have the capacity to pay attention to. His gaze drifted from the screen to the teasing grin on his mother’s face.</p><p>Dream frowned. “You only make that face when you’re about to say something I don’t like.”</p><p>“Well, I don’t think it’s all that bad,” his mother laughed. “Making hot chocolate’s my form of magic in this world, just like slinging webs is Spiderman’s own little magic.”</p><p>Magic? Wait—</p><p>Dream gasped. “Mom! You’re a superhero?”</p><p>“Of course! So is everyone else you meet.”</p><p>“You’re all superheroes? Does that mean I’m a superhero?”</p><p>“I should probably have explained this to you sooner,” his mother said. She cleared her throat. “Everyone in this world has magic, but it only comes to you when you grow up and takes even longer to discover it. I only found mine when I was nineteen. I was making hot chocolate for all my roommates in college, and it just so happened I always made the best kind.”</p><p>Dream pouted. “Does that mean I can never be Spiderman?”</p><p>“I won’t say that, sweetie. It’s just that everybody has small, unique magic. The world’s kind enough to lend its magic to all of us, just in different ways. Spiderman’s very, very lucky for the world to give him all that magic.”</p><p>He leaned back against the couch, thinking.</p><p>Everybody in this world had magic, and his mother had gotten her magic when she was a teenager. Dream was eight years old now. Did that mean he was only eight years away from discovering his own magic?</p><p>When he asked as such, his mother laughed again and ruffled his hair.</p><p>“Only time will tell, kiddo,” she said. “Only time will tell.”</p><p>With that cryptic answer, Dream was happy to shrug and settle back in to resume his Spiderman movie.</p><p>Still, the possibilities swirled in his head.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Dad! Dad! What’s your magic?”</p><p>His father fixed his amused gaze on his mother immediately. “You had the soulmate talk without me?”</p><p>“Just the magic talk,” his mother said.</p><p>Dream furrowed his eyebrows, his gaze darting from parent to parent and question going forgotten. There was a soulmate talk? “What’s the soulmate talk?”</p><p>His father set his workplace computer down on the countertop away from the dishes his mother had set on there. “I guess this’ll be a lot easier now that you’ve had the magic talk. Can I tell him?”</p><p>“Go ahead,” his mother said. “The stew needs to cook for a few more minutes anyway. Start setting the table, Clay.”</p><p>Dream groaned but moved to take forks and spoons out of the silverware drawer.</p><p>“So you already know everybody has their own unique magic,” his father started, picking up a saltshaker. He paused to crunch some salt out onto the plate of potato wedges. “What your mom didn’t tell you is that everybody has a soulmate, too.”</p><p>“A soulmate?”</p><p>“Someone you know you can be happy with. It can be a friend or someone you really, really like.”</p><p>“Or a wife,” his mother mused.</p><p>His father smiled softly at that. “Or a wife.”</p><p>A soulmate? That sounded like it could be anyone. Dream knew he would be happy with his family for the rest of his life. He would surely be happy with his best friends forever.</p><p>“Then I already met my soulmates,” Dream said. He set his sister’s fork upside down. That would show her for messing with his toys earlier. “I already met the best people ever.”</p><p>His father shrugged, and he salted another plate on the counter. “Soulmates aren’t always the best people you meet in school. Soulmates are connected with similar magic or magic that help out the other person’s. It’s like ketchup and mustard, you know? The universe helping you out a bit."</p><p>“So… I didn’t meet my soulmate?”</p><p>“Maybe, but it’s unlikely. Only time can tell.”</p><p>Dream huffed and stuck his bottom lip out. “Mom said that, too.”</p><p>His mother laughed as she flicked the stove off. “Dinner’s ready. Go call down your siblings, will you?”</p><p>Dream nodded. But before he could rush up the stairs as he always did, he slowed down and stared at his father. “You never told me what your magic is.”</p><p>"You need seasoning on food to make it taste good," his father said. He paused to shoot an adoring gaze at Dream's mother. "I can season everything perfectly every time."</p><p>Huh. His mother made perfect hot chocolate, and his father seasoned food perfectly. There was something there that felt significant, but Dream was hungry and dinner was waiting for him. He shut his brain off and ran to yell for his siblings.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Soulmates and magic had been so enthralling to him at that age. He’d stay up all night sketching out himself with various magical abilities (and by various, he meant everything he had read from the Percy Jackson series). Then he’d stare up at his ceiling light, wondering what kind of person his soulmate was. Would they be kind? Would they like reading as much as he did?</p><p>But this was getting a bit much.</p><p>“Clay,” his teacher called. “Tell me the truth and I won’t be mad.”</p><p>Dream’s gaze remained stubbornly on his dirt-matted shoes.</p><p>That was a lie. He had been betrayed by lying adults before, and he wouldn’t be fooled again.</p><p>At least, that was what he wanted to do. But how else would he get out of this situation if he didn’t tell the truth?</p><p>Dream sighed. “I… pushed my friend on the playground. But he did it first, so—”</p><p>“You pushed your friend.” His teacher shook her head and clicked her tongue. “Come on, Clay. What would your soulmate think of this?”</p><p>Dream’s fists tightened, and his friend shot him an apologetic glance from the back of the classroom.</p><p>What did his soulmate have to do with this? He had made his choice, and he was the one who had to live with it. This was his life, not anyone else’s. Why should he have to think about someone else before he did anything?</p><p>“Well, I don’t care what they think,” Dream said.</p><p>He was given silent lunch for the next couple of days.</p><p>There was something about that that left a bitter taste on his tongue.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“So, what did you wish for?” his mother asked on his eleventh birthday.</p><p>The answer was another Pokemon game, but voicing those thoughts didn’t seem like a great idea. Dream only offered her a shrug in place of an answer.</p><p>His mother grinned. “Did you wish to meet your soulmate?”</p><p>Ugh. Not again.</p><p>Dream shrugged again, keeping his lips sealed tight. He had replayed this conversation too many times to not realize silence was the best solution.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>At thirteen years old, Dream couldn’t care less for soulmates or magic.</p><p>It was everywhere, from casual discussions in class to the plot of every movie he cared to watch. Every TV show became the journey of a group of people learning about their magic or bumping into their soulmate. The game lobbies he had learned to love so much were cluttered with desperate people shouting their magical abilities out into the void, hoping for a call back.</p><p>It was pathetic. It was pathetic, and he couldn’t escape it. If this was what being an adult entailed, he wanted nothing to do with it.</p><p>Then after a particularly long day at school, Dream made the mistake of mentioning his age in a Skype chat.</p><p><b>PandasCanPvP [5:44]</b> dude youre 13?<br/><b>PandasCanPvP [5:44]</b> does that mean youve got ur magic yet lol</p><p>Dream swore he saw red before his arm shot out to sweep all the books off his desk.</p><p>He kicked at the books he had loved to idolize as a kid, the notebooks he had spent hours sketching into, all the optimism he had had towards his future. He imagined throwing his father’s lighter on top of it all and watching it burn to the ground. Maybe then he could finally have some reprieve from the pressure of it all.</p><p>Because fuck it. Everything’s become the same boring life script. Was that all there was to life? Was that all he was meant to be? He wanted so much more out of life, but if this was all there was to it—</p><p>Dream stopped and stared at the mess littered around his room.</p><p>Ugh. It’d take hours cleaning all that up, and now his toes hurt from kicking too hard. He hadn’t even heard his voice, but he supposed he had been screaming for at least some amount of time if his throat felt this raw. But even with the clarity, the anger still burned in his stomach.</p><p>He should get a drink.</p><p>Dream stepped out of his room, and he spent the next week ignoring the frantic notifications from Skype.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>What was he thinking?</p><p>Dream scrolled through each message begging him to come back, wincing at how much time had passed since he had last replied. His friend didn’t deserve to get ignored for something that was his personal problem. He had never explained it either; his friend at least deserved an explanation.</p><p>So sheepishly with burning cheeks and an overwhelming urge to slide down in his chair, Dream aimed to type back a reasonable response.</p><p><b>DreamOnPvP [8:12]</b> sorry<br/><b>DreamOnPvP [8:12]</b> lets not talk about soulmates or magic or all that garbage<br/><b>DreamOnPvP [8:12]</b> games on mcpvp?</p><p>It was only right after he sent that he realized how paltry of an explanation that was. But before Dream could correct himself, his friend responded.</p><p><b>PandasCanPvP [8:13]</b> oh good<br/><b>PandasCanPvP [8:13]</b> i thought you hated me or something<br/><b>PandasCanPvP [8:14]</b> yeah lets play some hunger games<br/><b>PandasCanPvP [8:14]</b> call?</p><p>Dream hesitated, then scrounged around his desk for his headphones.</p><p>(Years later, he would tell his friend—Sapnap, as he would find out—how thankful he was that he had come back, and Sapnap would reply, “Yeah, like you could get rid of me that easily.”)</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Dream firmly believed senior year of high school was for relaxing, not working. After all, he’d be off in the workforce soon and he was already in the process of getting a certification in tech. All he needed was good enough grades to earn his diploma.</p><p>Sapnap’s plans, however, were a different story.</p><p>“Dude, you need your American history class to graduate,” Dream said with a sigh. “Shouldn’t you be studying?”</p><p>Sapnap scoffed at that. “Chill, the test’s only tomorrow.”</p><p>“Tomorrow!”</p><p>There was silence after that, but it wasn’t the silence Dream knew came from reflection and regret; it was the silence Sapnap made when he was evaluating what to keep in his inventory and what to throw away.</p><p>Which meant he was a prime target.</p><p>A couple clicks of his sword and a fit of screaming and laughter later, Dream hummed as he collected Sapnap’s items from the ground.</p><p>Then came the familiar creaks of a chair being bent back further than it should be and… </p><p>No crash?</p><p>“Woah,” Sapnap breathed. “Dude, my chair’s all the way back and I haven’t fallen off. I knew my chair was sturdy, but I’ve never gone back <em> this </em> far before and—”</p><p>He cut himself off.</p><p>Dream stilled in his seat.</p><p>Somehow, he got the feeling he was intruding on an intimate moment, like he wasn’t supposed to be there. He was a fly in a room sprayed top to bottom with insecticide, yet he was here anyway, holding his breath and waiting for any sign of movement. But there was no reason for it! Why was he so nervous?</p><p>When Sapnap spoke again, his voice was quieter, more hesitant. “Hey, Dream?”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“You still don’t want me to talk about the magic thing around you?”</p><p>Oh.</p><p>Dread began knotting in Dream’s stomach, and his mind blanked when he needed it most.</p><p>“It’s okay,” Sapnap said, “I won’t—”</p><p>“No, go ahead” tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop it. But given further thought, why would he want to stop it? Sapnap had every right to share what he wanted to the world. And Dream would be damned if he wasn’t going to act like a good friend and listen to what he had to say.</p><p>Sapnap breathed out a light laugh. “I think I just figured out my magic.”</p><p>Dream bit his lip.</p><p>Oh. Right. Sapnap had been at the prime age to discover his magic, after all. Dream shouldn’t have been so surprised.</p><p>The hesitance in his tone broke his heart a little bit, though. Just a tiny bit.</p><p>“Well, what is it?” Dream asked, biting back his own disdain for the subject. They had been over this once. He didn’t like the thought of repeating that same nonsense from when they were younger.</p><p>“You’re not gonna believe this.”</p><p>“We’ll see about that—”</p><p>“I can lean back in my seat super far and never tip over.”</p><p>What.</p><p>Dream paused to process what he had just heard. “Wait, what?”</p><p>There was a creak on the other end of the call, presumably Sapnap confirming his magic. “Dude, I should’ve tipped over by now, but I’m still here. Just chilling.”</p><p>Dream had heard some ridiculous manifestations of magic over the years, but this was on a whole other level. Yet he wasn’t surprised—no, this was almost to be expected, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on why.</p><p>All his feelings came flooding out in the form of a hysterical laugh.</p><p>Sapnap’s own laughter joined him a split second later, and soon they were laughing together from the ridiculousness of it all.</p><p>Magic was still undoubtedly a scam. But maybe Sapnap’s magic was the best form of it.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>It didn’t take long after that for Dream to discover his own magic. He didn’t know why he was so revolted at it.</p><p>Dream chuckled low and deeply as he stared at his computer screen, the rest of his room shrouded in darkness.</p><p>It was still lit. Despite the hurricane that had just hit his area hard and all the electricity it had torn out with it, his computer was still up and running. </p><p>Of course he, the person who despised magic with all his soul, had the most visible magic he had ever seen from anyone. God, he felt like one of those protagonists in the movies and books he had grown to hate so much. <em> Florida teenager discovers the power of magic (and love, because all these summaries needed something in the parentheses for no reason). What wacky, quirky adventures will he go on? </em></p><p>Ridiculous. But his sense of curiosity betrayed him once again.</p><p>Well… it’d be smart to test out his magic and figure out its boundaries, right?</p><p>Dream typed a keysmash into a search engine, only to get an error page. Yet when he opened his notes app, everything worked perfectly.</p><p>He tried not to feel so disappointed at the clear boundary his magic was throwing back in his face. His power was already overpowered enough; being able to use the internet while the power was out required some complicated technology stuff he wasn’t able to figure out yet.</p><p>But how often did blackouts happen? There had only been three this year—</p><p>Maybe Florida wasn’t the best example. But it couldn’t be this bad in other places. At most, he’d use his magic once a year.</p><p>Dream’s shoulders relaxed.</p><p>That thought was comforting. He wouldn’t go through life with the constant reminder of a soulmate out there waiting for him and a magical ability he never asked for. Instead, the world had been kind enough to grant him a life he would direct himself. There was no room for destiny to influence him.</p><p>His lips tugged into a smile. Then a grin. And before he knew it, he was laughing.</p><p>This was good. He could handle this.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>He could not handle this.</p><p>“So,” his mother said in that teasing voice she always used right before asking him something he didn’t want to answer. “Found your magic yet?”</p><p>God, he hated that question.</p><p>“No,” Dream said. He raised a cup of cold hot chocolate to his lips and sipped.</p><p>“Really? You’re eighteen now, though. It should’ve happened by now.”</p><p>Dream scowled at that. “Life isn’t a script, Mom.”</p><p>His mother sighed, as she always did at his response.</p><p>And that was the end of that conversation for that day. He didn’t know whether to feel relieved or ashamed.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The next one was from an already established employee at the company he now worked at, at the age of twenty-five. The man’s name was George, if he recalled correctly, but honestly Dream couldn’t care less. All he knew was he was the team’s most reliable coder and, as he would find out, an asshole who asked about people’s magic.</p><p>“I don’t think we should be talking about magic at work,” Dream snorted before he could unload all his baggage on some poor idiot who walked into it unknowingly. “Really, it’s stupid to ask. It’s 2021, I thought we were all past that.”</p><p>And George had the audacity to roll his eyes at that. “Well, I don’t really think magic’s as big of a deal as people make it out to be, but that’s fine. Anyway, Bad gave you admin access to the server, right?”</p><p>Wait, he wasn’t putting up a fight? And he didn’t think magic was a big deal?</p><p>All the counterarguments he had trained to use over the years died in his throat as George navigated to a folder of files.</p><p>What the hell? Even Sapnap had prodded him about his opinions on magic after a while into their friendship. He had so many defenses ready, only for this guy to—</p><p>No, he should be glad. Throwing himself into arguments for the sake of arguing hadn’t been a healthy habit from the start. Arguing with his coworker would only lead to more issues and none of the smart debate he loved to lose himself in. Besides, Sapnap had been his link to the company. It would look poorly on both of them if he got into an argument with one of the more established employees on his first week.</p><p>But it was interesting. Fascinating, even. Who was this guy?</p><p>“Yeah,” Dream said with a cough. They still had a job to do. “I still need the network password for the other server, though.”</p><p>George pulled up the password, and that was the last of that conversation.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Hey, how’d the meeting with George go?”</p><p>Dream paused upon hearing his manager’s voice in the halls of the office.</p><p>Bad was probably the kindest, sweetest person he had ever met. How was he supposed to phrase <em> “He didn’t ask me about magic and I’m kind of irritated at it” </em> to him?</p><p>“Went well,” is what he decided on.</p><p>Bad let out a sigh of relief at that. “Oh, that’s good. Glad to hear it!”</p><p>“Yeah,” Dream said, his gaze drifting to the chipped paint on the wall. “Me too.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>By the time Dream had picked up takeout for dinner and twisted the door to his and Sapnap’s shared apartment open, Sapnap was already seated cross-legged on the couch with the TV screen set to some random YouTube video.</p><p>“Yo,” Sapnap called. His greeting wave froze upon seeing the expression on Dream’s face. “Uh, you good, bro? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”</p><p>Dream blinked as the scene in front of him came into focus.</p><p>Right. He was back home, away from work, away from the person who had caught him off-guard today. He could relax in front of the television screen with his best friend and laugh together like old times.</p><p>But that wasn’t what happened. His life rarely ever went as expected.</p><p>“I met George today,” were the words that chose to come out of his mouth.</p><p>Sapnap blinked at that, and Dream regretted every decision that led to this moment in his life.</p><p>“Oh, don’t tell me he was a dick to you,” Sapnap said with a snort.</p><p>“What, do you hate him?”</p><p>“Nah, I love him, he’s like a brother to me. It’s just—”</p><p>“No, that explains everything, you don’t have to say more.”</p><p>Sapnap paused to let Dream take a seat on the couch and unwrap their takeout bag. “What about him then?”</p><p>And immediately, they fell into silence, the only sound being the ramblings of the YouTuber in front of them.</p><p>Dream had never shied away from expressing exactly what he thought about magic and soulmates, and Sapnap had never shied away from interjecting with his own ideas. Throughout all their debates, it had stayed just that: debates. Harmlessly picking at the other’s brain. But in the end, they retained their own opinions, both on opposite sides of a spectrum. That’s what made them such good friends despite their differing world views: respecting each other’s beliefs and knowing when to not push.</p><p>Yet Dream had never quite met someone like George. George was someone off the spectrum completely, ignoring the entire institution of magic and soulmates. He was someone who drifted by with no strong opinion one way or another in an increasingly polarized world.</p><p>That was interesting. How was that lack of interest so interesting? And how was he supposed to explain that to Sapnap?</p><p>Dream shrugged and picked up a set of chopsticks, breaking it in half. “He’s just interesting, I guess.”</p><p>Sapnap raised an eyebrow at that but didn’t press. Instead, he took his share of the takeout and began eating.</p><p>Dream wasn’t sure whether he should be thankful for the silence or intimidated by it.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“I still think it’s BS of you to get off work before I do.”</p><p>“Work at the company for a bit longer, idiot.”</p><p>Dream rolled his eyes as Sapnap laughed.</p><p>Sapnap had indeed left their workplace before Dream did despite both clocking in at the same time in the morning. That was why he was able to pull up in front of the workplace like a jackass and harass Dream with car honks (and probably annoy all their other coworkers. God knew how Sapnap got away with it).</p><p>But before Dream could say anything in response, Sapnap honked again, his gaze set on something behind him.</p><p>“Get in, idiot!” Sapnap called. “We’re going for dinner!”</p><p>Dream turned, only to see George standing just a little ways behind him with a more annoyed expression than usual.</p><p>Oh, god. Dream thought it’d only be them eating at some sad McDonald’s nearby alone. There was a coworker joining them?</p><p>“You couldn’t have told me this sooner?” George said.</p><p>“Nope. Now, get in, you’re taking the backseat.”</p><p>“Why me?”</p><p>“Because my roommate’s stupid legs won’t fit in the backseat, and I’m sure as hell not trusting you with driving the car.”</p><p>Dream didn’t know how to feel about his legs being called stupid, but he rushed into the passenger seat anyway, the competitive side of him burning in a way it hadn’t in a long time. There was no way he was stuffing himself in the backseat. George would suffer alone.</p><p>George, seemingly used to this, rolled his eyes and entered the backseat. “If the trains are closed by the time this is over, you’re driving me back home.”</p><p>“Of course, Georgie.”</p><p>“Why, thank you, Sappy Nappy.” George’s gaze shifted to focus on Dream. “Oh, good, somebody sensible’s here.”</p><p>Sapnap snorted at that as Dream laughed. “Sensible? You think Dream’s sensible?”</p><p>“Probably more than you.”</p><p>“That’s true,” Dream said, and the other two bickered back and forth.</p><p>As Dream clicked his seatbelt on, he decided maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>And it hadn’t been. George turned out to be even more interesting than Dream had originally thought. When he wasn’t mocking Sapnap for his poor driving skills, he was holding conversation with Dream about everything from their current projects to his own personal projects in modding video games. He gave information out freely yet retained a detached air from the world. He was a series of neverending contradictions, and Dream couldn’t help but feel more entranced in the mystery.</p><p>“Yeah, can you believe this clown, Dream?” Sapnap said through a mouthful of fries. “Who didn’t play on MCPVP when they were younger?”</p><p>George rolled his eyes at that. “Sorry, I was too busy getting global elite in CSGO.”</p><p>“Loser. Come on, Dream, let’s get away from this idiot.”</p><p>Dream laughed and stood up, picking up their tray.</p><p>They had stayed for longer than Dream expected. George fit into his and Sapnap’s dynamic perfectly, adding a third layer of snark and laughter to their friendship. The conversation flowed easily, as if they were long-time friends rather than coworkers. By the time their hangout came to a close, Dream found himself wishing he could stay longer.</p><p>But he threw away the trash on the tray and dusted his hands off over the garbage can, listening to George and Sapnap bicker in the background.</p><p>Something about it made him smile.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“What the heck?”</p><p>George raised an eyebrow at his reaction. “What? Do you not like coffee?”</p><p>“Uh…”</p><p>It was too early in the morning for this. Dream had taken two steps into the office break room with Sapnap before George tapped him on his shoulder and held out a cup of coffee without a word. They had spent a couple seconds staring at each other before those three words ended up being Dream’s first words of the day. Luckily, his other coworkers hadn’t shown up to work yet to watch him embarrass himself.</p><p>His brain wasn’t at full optimization yet, but the smell of coffee was still enough to twist his throat and make his stomach churn. Normally he wouldn’t even step into the break room because of the coffee machine in there. He hated coffee through and through; there was no question about it.</p><p>But George had been kind enough to remember him after yesterday, to think about him when he didn’t need to. Who was Dream to throw that consideration away?</p><p>So Dream took the cup and mustered a smile on his face. “Thanks, man. You didn’t have to.”</p><p>George shrugged and walked away with his own cup of coffee.</p><p>Dream finally let his nose wrinkle when George walked out of vision. Ugh, the smell was making his head fuzzy. Could he really deal with this all day?</p><p>Then Sapnap took the drink out of his hands, downed it in several gulps, and returned it to him.</p><p>Dream blinked. “You were still here?”</p><p>“Yeah, of course I was,” Sapnap said. He rolled his eyes. “I really had to watch that happen. You could’ve just said no.”</p><p>“He literally made coffee for me, dude. I couldn’t.”</p><p>“Okay, whatever.”</p><p>Dream’s gaze darted between Sapnap and the now empty cup of coffee. “Are you gonna be okay with that much caffeine?”</p><p>Sapnap waved him off. “Eh, I’ll be fine. We should probably clock in now, though.”</p><p>Oh, right. They were at work.</p><p>Dream carried the cup with him into the office, and it stayed with him until the end of the day.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Hey,” Dream called over the wall to George’s cubicle, “I’m getting lunch from Chipotle. You want anything while I’m there?”</p><p>George blinked but looked up at him. “Oh, can you get a chicken salad for me? I’ll pay you back later.”</p><p>“Sure, sure.”</p><p>Then George furrowed his eyebrows. “Were you always that tall?”</p><p>Huh. Looking at it now, Dream was a full head taller than the top of the cubicle wall.</p><p>Dream shrugged. “I guess so. I’ll be back in, like, ten minutes.”</p><p>Dream turned and walked away, but he couldn’t shake off the eyes burning into his back.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>It was their usual Sunday movie night when Sapnap found a stray eraser in the house.</p><p>“Dude, what’s this?” Sapnap said with a frown, bringing the eraser in front of his face. “When’s the last time either of us bought an eraser?”</p><p>Dream spared him a glance. “Oh, George bought a set of erasers but he didn’t need all of them, so he gave one to me.”</p><p>Silence. That was concerning from Sapnap.</p><p>Finally, after the protagonist in the movie had their own embarrassing conversation with another character, Sapnap spoke. “Is this what you guys have been doing for a  month? Just giving each other gifts like idiots?”</p><p>“I mean, I wouldn’t call that being an idiot but yeah.”</p><p>“You do realize you guys can, like… hang out together, right?”</p><p>Oh. Dream supposed asking George to hang out was a better way to become his friend than exchanging gifts for a month. They had even gone on regular outings together as a trio with Sapnap, but…</p><p>Were they friends at this point? Or was Dream completely misinterpreting all their interactions up to this point? Would George even want to hang out with him? </p><p>It was scary. The thought of rejection, even by someone like a coworker, was scary.</p><p>Sapnap pulled him out of his thoughts by kicking his foot. “Hello? Earth to Dream?”</p><p>Dream kicked him back. “Don’t kick me, idiot.”</p><p>Sapnap responded by kicking him back even harder. “Don’t kick <em> me </em>, moron. What’re you thinking so hard about?”</p><p>Ugh. He didn’t want to explain this. Not on movie night.</p><p>“You know you can tell me anything if you want to,” Sapnap said, his voice softer, gentler, the one he used to let Dream know he had a brother in him. And that was correct; their friendship had gone through its fair share of rough patches, but they always emerged with a new appreciation for each other.</p><p>“Uh… this is gonna sound stupid,” Dream started before he could stop himself, “but do you know if George wants to be friends with me? I mean, it’s okay if he doesn’t, I’m just—”</p><p>“Oh my god,” Sapnap groaned, slapping a palm against his forehead. “You’re so stupid.”</p><p>Dream glared. “I told you it was gonna be stupid.”</p><p>“No, I’m not calling this situation stupid. I’m calling <em> you </em> stupid for not realizing he wants to be your friend, too.”</p><p>“... What?”</p><p>“Dude, we literally all hang out together every week. Why would he not wanna be friends with you?” Sapnap rolled his eyes and tossed another handful of popcorn in his mouth. “You two are ridiculous.”</p><p>Dream stopped.</p><p>George wanted to be his friend just as much as he did? That didn’t seem believable.</p><p>“Yeah, but you don’t know for sure,” Dream said, his throat dry.</p><p>Sapnap shrugged and turned his gaze back to the television screen. “Believe what you want, bro.”</p><p>Huh.</p><p>Dream tuned back into the movie, lost in thought.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The back-and-forth continued for another week before Dream finally worked up the courage to ask George to hang out after work over dinner. And now that they were seated at a new restaurant George had suggested trying out together, Dream had no idea what to do.</p><p>George snickered at him after they ordered their food at the register. “What’re you thinking about, Dream?”</p><p>Dream pursed his lips, his eyes trailing the movement of ice cubes in a drink that had been left out for longer than they had been at the restaurant. A woman picked up the drink and sipped, smiling at the untouched ice cubes. “I dunno. I think my mind just died on me.”</p><p>“Too many spreadsheets?”</p><p>“Too many spreadsheets.”</p><p>“Yeah. That’ll fry your brain.” Then George sipped at his drink, his smirk dissolving into his usual neutral smile. “We don’t need to talk if you’re not up for it, though.”</p><p>Dream frowned.</p><p>There was one conversation topic he could use. It had been tugging at his mind ever since then, though he hadn’t pieced it into words until now. But that had happened so long ago; would George still remember it?</p><p>Only one way to find out.</p><p>“Hey, George,” Dream called, “do you remember what you said to me on the first day we met? Like, that thing about magic not being a big deal?”</p><p>Luckily, George shrugged. “I guess. I had that conversation with a lot of people, though, so you’re gonna need to tell me what specifically about it.”</p><p>Dream paused to think. What did he want out of this conversation after all? “Um… I guess I just wanted to know why you said that to me. You said that after I already told you I don’t care about magic and soulmates and all that.”</p><p>“But you do.”</p><p>Dream frowned, but before he could speak, George elaborated.</p><p>“If I recall correctly, your tone during that bit was pretty aggressive. Do you hate magic?”</p><p>Dream faltered at that. Hate was a strong word. “I wouldn’t say <em> that, </em> but… I guess so, yeah.”</p><p>“Hating something is still caring about it. If you don’t care about it, you wouldn’t be spending your time and energy thinking about how much you hate it.” He paused to take another sip of his drink. “I used to hate magic, too, you know. My magic turned out to be pretty useless most of the time, and I didn’t want my entire existence to be defined by that.”</p><p>Dream sat up, his eyes widening. That story was too familiar. “Wait, really? Me too.”</p><p>“Then you should be able to follow me when I say it doesn’t matter.”</p><p>Magic sure did seem to matter to a lot of people. Hell, his parents still regularly asked him when he was going to find his magic, not knowing he had already found it and hated it. The pressure to find a soulmate was even more ridiculous; he couldn’t watch a single movie without even a mention of it. Magic was everything in this world.</p><p>He told as such to George, who responded with a shrug.</p><p>“Has your magic really impacted where you are today? Helped you with getting this job? Helped you meet your friends?” George asked. “Maybe, but mine hasn’t. I don’t think it’s had an effect on my life at all, actually.”</p><p>Dream furrowed his eyebrows. “Then what about soulmates?”</p><p>“Same thing. If no two people on this planet have the same magic, then—oh, shit, I think our number’s getting called. I’ll get it.”</p><p>George stood up to get their food, leaving Dream to think.</p><p>George was right; no two people had the same magic, and people who had similar magic were soulmates. His parents had told him that long ago. But there was an obvious flaw with that. If all magic was unique, then that meant there was a range of people who could have similar magical abilities to each other. Nobody would be able to definitively tell somebody was their soulmate.</p><p>… Oh, damn it. That was George’s point, wasn’t it?</p><p>There was no life script for him after all, unlike what everyone around him had been trying to get him to believe for all these years. He couldn’t choose his magic, sure. But he was able to choose what he did with it, who he wanted to be with. Magic was a bonus to life, not the main level.</p><p>Nobody had ever so much as implied that before. And nobody had been so open about their thought process as George was.</p><p>Dream grinned.</p><p>That was right. He was free. He was free, and it felt exhilarating.</p><p>Dream was tugged back to reality when George set a tray on their table and sat down in front of him. “Oh, thanks.”</p><p>“No problem. What were we talking about again?” George stabbed at a plate of fries and bit down on them, only to wince. “Dude, this tastes like shit. How’d they fuck up fries?”</p><p>Dream burst out laughing at his expression, and there went the night.</p><p>They could talk more about it later, but Dream had the feeling he already got what he needed from their conversation.</p><p>George really was more brilliant than people gave him credit for.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Then they began hanging out more and more, until not a day went by where they didn’t talk to each other at least once. Dream had no complaints with that, but truths emerged eventually.</p><p>“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you hated coffee,” George snorted, stirring sugar into his own cup of coffee. “I made it for you, like, every time I clocked in before you. You could’ve told me to stop.”</p><p>Dream only shrugged and scrunched his nose at the smell of it. “Hey, I never drank any of it.”</p><p>“Then who did?”</p><p>“Sapnap.”</p><p>George froze, then he tilted his head up to meet Dream’s gaze with a grin and Dream was reminded of how ridiculous the situation truly was. “No way.”</p><p>“Yeah, he did,” Dream said with a chuckle. “Literally chugged it down every time for me when you walked out the break room. Then he finished his own cup throughout the day.”</p><p>“How’s he still alive?”</p><p>“Spite.”</p><p>“Ah.” Then George squinted. “Are you—Dream, if you don’t like the smell of it, you don’t have to stand in the break room all the time.”</p><p>“Fuck you.”</p><p>“Understandable.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“I know it’s three AM, but do you think clouds are friends with other friends?”</p><p>“... I regret setting your calls to go through Do Not Disturb.”</p><p>“You love me, George.”</p><p>“You’re literally the most unpog person on the planet.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Okay,” George said, gesturing towards the graph on his computer screen. “How can we pop off?”</p><p>Dream laughed at that, muffling it behind a hand. “You can’t just say that while we’re at work.”</p><p>Then again, this was the most interesting work environment Dream had experienced. Their manager was a kind man who brought in muffins for the workers and refused to swear, there was always noise and chaos on the floor above them (mostly due to somebody named Skeppy, from what he’s heard), and they had an office cat named Ant. Their other coworkers seemed unimpressed at all the strange happenings. Things didn’t get weirder than that.</p><p>“Well, you’re boring. Sapnap, how can we pop off?”</p><p>“I already popped off,” Sapnap snorted, “you figure it out.”</p><p>George scoffed at both of them and turned back toward the computer screen. “You’re both awful. This meeting’s over.”</p><p>“This was a meeting?”</p><p>“No. Get out of my cubicle.”</p><p>Sapnap was quick to follow instructions. He stood up from his chair and wheeled it back to his cubicle across the room.</p><p>But Dream stayed, frozen.</p><p>Was George’s grin always that bright? Had his laughter always made Dream’s heart stop? When did that change?</p><p>“Dream?”</p><p>Dream snapped back to reality, only to see George’s amused, almost fond gaze resting on him.</p><p>That was too much. That was way too much.</p><p>“Yup, got it,” Dream said, jumping out of his seat. He grabbed the back of it and began wheeling out of the cubicle. “Sorry, zoned out there for a second.”</p><p>George only giggled at that.</p><p>Dream dragged his chair away, face burning.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Sapnap’s stare on him after he hung up the phone probably wasn’t a good sign.</p><p>Dream lowered his phone onto the kitchen table, eyebrows furrowed. “What?”</p><p>“Do you realize how long you spent on that call?”</p><p>“... No?”</p><p>“You started after work. It’s midnight now.”</p><p>Dream winced at that and finally checked his phone battery. It was almost dead, as he expected it to be after seven straight hours of use. “Whoops?”</p><p>Sapnap only sighed and opened the fridge door. “If you guys are gonna date, can you at least tell me? I wanna eat my leftover chicken nuggets in peace, thank you very much.”</p><p>Dream raised an eyebrow at the piece of chicken he popped into his mouth. “Shouldn’t you warm that up first?”</p><p>“I’m hungry, shut up.”</p><p>Then his mind caught up with everything Sapnap had just said, and he took a double take.</p><p>“Wait a second,” Dream said, “we’re not dating. I’ve stayed on call with you for a lot longer, you know.”</p><p>“Yeah, but not while we’re roommates. You see George every day and you’re still here talking to him for seven years straight like a simp.”</p><p>“Seven <em> hours. </em>”</p><p>“Same thing.”</p><p>“It’s not.” Dream frowned as Sapnap sat down across from him and leaned back in his chair to what would’ve been a precarious point for anyone else.</p><p>Sapnap wasn’t right. Dream wasn’t a simp. And he and George sure as hell weren’t dating.</p><p>But looking back on it, it was easy to see why Sapnap thought they were. They spent more time together now than they usually did, both talking whenever they could at work and hanging out outside of the office. Their item exchange had made a return when Dream left a pen as a present on George’s desk, to which George countered by clipping a trinket onto Dream’s bag for him to discover when he went home. That and Dream found his gaze wandering over to George more times throughout the day than he cared to admit. Could anyone blame him, though? It was just a fact that George was pretty.</p><p>Oh, god. He sounded like a simp.</p><p>Wait. Did he like George? Romantically?</p><p>This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all. But why did he like the feeling of his heart rushing and face burning? Why did he like thinking of George every hour of the day?</p><p>Dream’s face heated, and Sapnap snorted at him.</p><p>“Yup, there you go,” Sapnap said. He pushed the tray of chicken nuggets towards him. “Want a nuggie?”</p><p>Dream scoffed at him but took a chicken nugget and popped it into his mouth.</p><p>It was unpleasantly cold.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>What did one do after discovering that? How did he go on living life?</p><p>Maybe that was a tad dramatic. But Dream would be damned if he didn’t feel every bit of it in his soul as he willed himself to try not to look so excited when George clocked in.</p><p>Then George smiled at him and waved.</p><p>Dream offered a quick wave back before turning back to his computer screen.</p><p>Just seeing George made him too happy.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“Wait, you’re leaving?”</p><p>Dream stopped to turn, looking back at George.</p><p>They had gone to visit an old arcade together on Sunday with Sapnap, but all the nostalgia in the world couldn’t keep Dream from realizing how repetitive the games were. Sapnap had left early on, citing a stomachache that the other two recognized was an excuse to go home and play Minecraft. Now, several hours later, Dream’s fingers were cramping and his vision was bleary. His body had clearly had enough screens for today.</p><p>But it seemed George felt differently.</p><p>“I mean,” Dream said, “yeah. Do you not want me to leave?”</p><p>George let out a short laugh. “Why would I want you to leave?”</p><p>Oh. The fond gaze from him following his words could’ve made Dream melt on the spot.</p><p>“I guess I won’t leave then.” Dream paused to rub his eyes. “Can we go somewhere else, though? My eyes aren’t holding up too well.”</p><p>“Oh, yeah, of course.”</p><p>And if Dream returned home at eleven at night with a dopey smile, Sapnap would only snicker at him a little bit.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Dream bit back a laugh upon seeing George’s shivering figure and wrapped his jacket over George’s shoulders. “Here, you need it more than me.”</p><p>George faltered at the contact for a split second before bringing the jacket closer over his shoulders.</p><p>It looked better on him than it did Dream.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Staying late at the office wasn’t a common practice, but deadlines were deadlines, and Dream was a procrastinating idiot.</p><p>Luckily (or unluckily, depending on who was asked), he wasn’t alone.</p><p>“How long do you two think you’ll be staying?” Bad asked, hauling his bag over his shoulder.</p><p>“Not too long,” Dream said with a shrug. “Maybe fifteen or thirty minutes.”</p><p>George, who sat just a little ways away from him, answered with the same time frame.</p><p>“Okay, feel free to mess with the thermostat if it gets too cold. It’s pretty stormy today.” Bad dropped a set of keys on George’s desk. “George, I’m trusting you to lock up.”</p><p>“Bad idea.”</p><p>“I’m sure you’ll be fine. You’re a responsible person, George.”</p><p>Dream snickered at that, and George shot him a half-hearted glare.</p><p>“Feel free to call me if you need anything,” Bad said. He offered them one last smile and goodbye before walking out of the office.</p><p>And then there were two.</p><p>It was easy to forget with all the work ahead of him. The sound of rain pittering against the windows and their clacking against the keyboard drowned out any stray thoughts Dream would’ve had. The numbers were easier to comprehend without the noise of their coworkers, and it seemed George was just as content to work in silence.</p><p>Before he knew it, he had wrapped up all the coding he needed to do for the week. He moused over to save—</p><p>“How’s your computer still on?”</p><p>Dream blinked, then finally reconnected to the world outside of him.</p><p>All the lights were off. Every computer had shut down, save for Dream’s. They had been sitting in darkness for who knew how long.</p><p>But there was something peculiar on George’s desk.</p><p>“How’s your clock still on?” Dream asked, gesturing towards the digital clock still counting down the seconds on George’s desk.</p><p>George’s gaze flickered back to the clock. “Oh. It’s my magic. I told you it was useless.”</p><p>“That’s your magic?”</p><p>“Clocks always stay on for me through power outages, yeah.” Then George stopped, looking back at Dream’s computer. “Is that your magic?”</p><p>Huh. Dream didn’t think anyone else had ever been around to see it in action. He nodded.</p><p>Wait.</p><p>Both their magics activated during power outages. Both their magics spared an electronic device from shutting down. It wasn’t quite the same, but it was similar enough that…</p><p>Holy shit.</p><p>Dream looked up, only to lock eyes with George. His throat ran dry.</p><p>“Are we…” Dream trailed off.</p><p>
  <em> Soulmates? </em>
</p><p>“I…” Dream felt his heart tremble as George paused. “Do you want to be?”</p><p>Right. Magic didn’t bind people together; it was all their choice in the end. That was something Dream had been fighting for his entire life. And Dream would give anything to call himself George’s soulmate, something he thought would’ve felt stifling all those years ago.</p><p>But it didn’t. Instead, it felt liberating.</p><p>Dream coughed out a clipped laugh, hoping he didn’t look as much of an idiot as he felt. “Yeah. I’d like that.”</p><p>And George gave him an angelic smile and laugh. “I’d like that, too.”</p><p>It was happening. It was happening, and Dream couldn’t be happier.</p><p>“Does that—Does that mean we’re soulmates?” Dream asked.</p><p>“We did just agree to that, yeah.”</p><p>“We’re soulmates.”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“We’re soulmates, George!” Dream’s heart swelled, and his smile grew into a grin as George giggled. “We’re soulmates!”</p><p>“Dream! We’re soulmates!” George laughed.</p><p>The word still felt weird on his tongue, didn’t quite roll off right, but George’s name felt natural, something he could say over and over again for centuries. Dream had felt that way for a while now. Calling each other their soulmate was just an extra step. But it felt like he was forgetting—</p><p>Wait, fuck.</p><p>Dream whipped back around to his computer and hit the save button. He wasn’t quite sure how reliable his magic was, but he wasn’t about to test it out.</p><p>George laughed at that. “Wow, Dream going back to work right after calling me his soulmate. What a loser.”</p><p>“At least I didn’t lose my work from a blackout,” Dream scoffed. He exited out of the program and began packing his belongings into his bag.</p><p>“Hey, my clock’s more important than anything the higher ups throw at us.”</p><p>Dream hauled the bag’s strap over his shoulder with a laugh. “Dude, your magic really is useless.”</p><p>“I would say yours is too, but I need to use your computer to test something out. Can I—”</p><p>“Yeah, go ahead.”</p><p>George stood up from his seat with a pile of papers in hand, and Dream prepared to leave the building. But something didn’t quite feel right.</p><p>“Um…” Dream’s nerves frayed when George turned to him with shining eyes and a bright smile. They were soulmates, and they were friends. He could get this out. “Do you want a good luck kiss? You know, with the whole power outage thing.”</p><p>Oh, god. He wished he never asked. It was too soon, wasn’t it? George would be freaked out and—</p><p>“Sure.”</p><p>Dream blinked. “Wait, really?”</p><p>George laughed at him again for what seemed like the hundredth time that hour, but Dream wouldn’t complain. He nodded and brought a hand to Dream’s cheek. “Of course. Can I kiss you?”</p><p>Dream nodded and shut his eyes before George pressed their lips together.</p><p>There was still a good amount of uncertainties remaining—were they boyfriends now? What was the next step from here? Who was to say they were soulmates at all?</p><p>That was something only time could tell, but as they pulled apart and burst out laughing together, Dream had the feeling they could make it through anything the universe threw at them.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>